JAZZ@FIRST | INNER VISIONS: THE MUSIC OF STEVIE WONDER REIMAGINED

Saxophonist Steve Hoskins joins the Phil DeGreg Trio to perform fresh jazz arrangements of songs by Stevie Wonder, one of the greatest pop songwriters of the latter 20th century. A 25-time Grammy Award winner, Wonder’s melodies and harmonies are pure genius, full of color and soul.

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Complimentary wine and cheese at intermission are included with your ticket.

 

Jazz@First Series Sponsor: Al Harris

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About the Artist: Steve Hoskins, saxophone

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Steve Hoskins (saxes, flutes & clarinets) is a Cincinnati native who regularly performs with numerous jazz groups in the area including The Faux Frenchmen, The Swing Heritage Jazz Orchestra and Pat Kelly’s Psychoacoustic Orchestra. He is also active as a pit orchestra musician in the Broadway Series at the Aronoff Theatre and plays with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops saxophone section. Steve is leader, composer and arranger of the group The Jazz Circle. The 2006 CD release titled Joshua received positive reviews and radio airplay nationally in over 40 markets.

 

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About the Artist: Phil DeGreg, piano

 

Phil DeGreg began playing the piano in his childhood and now performs as a jazz pianist internationally. His earliest jazz influences were Bud Powell and Bill Evans, but he is accomplished and comfortable in a wide range of jazz styles, ranging from mainstream to bebop to Brazilian jazz. A graduate of Yale and the University of North Texas, he toured with the Woody Herman Orchestra in the 1980s and has 10 CDs to his credit as a leader. For 13 years he accompanied many national and international jazz artists in the house trio in Cincinnati’s famous Blue Wisp Jazz Club. He has been on staff with the renowned Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshops since 1983, and has performed and taught in Europe and South America.

 

Phil DeGreg is the retired Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts study grants. In 2008 he was awarded a 4-month Fulbright Fellowship as a lecturer in Brazil.

 

His text “Jazz Keyboard Harmony” is a practical text for teaching jazz harmony for all musicians, and is used all over the world in universities and for private study.

 

Learn more about Phil DeGreg on his website http://phildegreg.com.